O’Brien left Virginia after the 1996 season to become head coach at Boston College, where he was 75-45 in 10 seasons and led BC to eight consecutive bowl games before moving to N.C. State.

He joins a Virginia team that finished 5-7 and 3-5 in the ACC in head coach Mike London’s second season. That was a dropoff from London’s first season in 2011 when the Cavaliers were 9-4 (6-2 in ACC) and lost to Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.